Ukraine presses counter-offensive after Russian setback

Russia has attacked the Ukrainian president's hometown with a 'suicide drone' attack as Ukraine pushes ahead with its counter-offensive after taking back control of a strategic eastern city.

The drone struck a school in Krivyi Rih early on Sunday and destroyed two storeys of it, the governor of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, Valentyn Reznichenko, said.

He added that a fire sparked by the drone attack has been put out.

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In recent weeks, Russia has begun using Iranian-made 'suicide drones' to attack targets in Ukraine.

Russia's earlier loss of Lyman, which it had been using as a transport and logistics hub, is a new blow to the Kremlin as it seeks to escalate the war by illegally annexing four regions of Ukraine.

"The Ukrainian flag is already in Lyman," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address.

"Over the past week, there have been more Ukrainian flags in the Donbas. In a week there will be even more."

In the south of the country, the Ukrainian air force claimed it shot down five Iranian-made drones overnight, while two others made it through air defences.

Meanwhile, Russian attacks also targeted the city of Zaporizhzhia, authorities said.

Ukraine's military said on Sunday that it carried out a strike on a Russian ammunition depot in the country's south, in Chernihiv, and hit other Russian command posts, ammunition depots and two S-300 anti-aircraft batteries.

The reports of military activity could not be immediately verified.